


Heartwarming

by Books_Tea_Fandoms



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Fluff, High School AU, I am here to fulfil that need, Kylux - Freeform, M/M, One Shot, Soulmate AU, this fandom needs more G rated stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-11 01:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15304488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Books_Tea_Fandoms/pseuds/Books_Tea_Fandoms
Summary: Soulmate AU in which proximity to your soulmate causes your chest to glow. I was inspired by a tumblr post, but I saw it two years ago so I don't even know what it was or where I could find it (shows how long I've been putting off writing this one fic but now I have the time). || Kylo Ren is known to pick on people smaller than him. His most recent target is the scrawny, nerdy Armitage Hux (which, Kylo thinks, he is really asking for with a name like Armitage). However, one fateful encounter in a locker room changes the course of all of this...





	Heartwarming

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a really long time since I've actually written something (sorry) so I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little bit rusty, but here it is! It ended up as a series of vignettes tracing the story, but ah well. Sorry about my lack of proofreading :P

Armitage Hux was feeling rough. His eyes wwere deeply shadowed, his pristine shoes were scuffed, and his normally perfect hair was gradually falling into an increasing state of disarray. His father, had he been awake at the time Hux left the house that morning, would have been enormously disappointed, and hearing the end of it from him would not have been an option.  
"Hey, are you doing ok?" Dopheld Mitaka fell into step with Hux as they walked out of chemistry class, aiming in the general direction of the locker room.  
"Yeah I'm alright." Hux couldn't summon the energy to make this sound convincing.  
"Ren got you down?"  
"Yeah." He shrugged. Kylo Ren, notorious for his constant picking on anyone smaller than him, had decided to make Hux his latest target, bit by bit pushing his limits with him further than he had tried with anyone else before.  
"Hey, I'm here if you ever need to talk about it."  
"Thanks." They fell into an awkward silence for a bit until Hux realised that Mitaka looked slightly worse for wear as well. "Are you ok?" He looked over, Mitaka giving a dry laugh.  
"Well, my girlfriend found her soulmate and it wasn't me."  
"Oh, shit- how did she find out?"  
"Oh, she cheated on me and then found out the guy she was with at the time was her soulmate, so that was a real stab in the gut." Mitaka tensed his jaw. "But I guess that's just the way things are." He added, trying not to make it sound like he was talking through his teeth.  
"That's awful." Hux paused for a moment. "But if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here."  
"Thanks, I appreciate that." They fell into silence again, Hux becoming rapidly absorbed in his own thoughts.  
Soulmates were rarely found in high school, but it wasn't entirely unheard of. Sometimes, it just worked out that way. You found someone, you clicked, and when you saw their chest glow from the inside, you knew it was right. This glow wasn't a strong one: it was not something that could be easily seen through a shirt or a sweater, so occasionally soulmates would miss each other in high school, only to be reunited years later. When it did happen in high school, however, through secret rendez-vous in a storage closet or (later on in high school) more intimate occasions, it was something that would create waves, and Hux's heart went out to Mitaka for the oncoming shitstorm that was about to blow his way.  
When they reached the locker room, they made a beeline for the corner, quietly tucked away, so as to not disturb anyone else. Especially not Kylo Ren, whom Hux had immediately noticed from across the room and was determined to avoid. Although it looked like Kylo was otherwise occupied with his friends, Hux wanted to minimise the risk of being targeted, especially since he was scrawny and could very easily be made the target of something whilst he was changing.  
It seemed, however, that Kylo Ren had other ideas, and decided to approach Hux, regardless of the fact that Ren was in a stage of undress, wearing his jeans and little else. Hux, who had started unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt, stopped hesistantly, shrinking away into the corner the closer Kylo came. Eventually, he found himself trapped in the corner, with Kylo standing close in front of him.  
"You look like Bambi, you scared of me?" Kylo smirked, proceeding to call Hux a slew of words that he decided he'd rather not pay too close attention to.  
"What do you want Ren?" Mitaka asked from behind the two. Kylo turned around and gave him a withering glare.  
"None of your business." He spat. Mitaka took in breath as if to say something, but closed his mouth instead. When Kylo turned back to face Hux, he found himself faced with something of an unexpected sight. "What are you doing?!" Kylo asked in alarm, temporarily dropping the façade of intimidator. His surprise was, in fact, justified, as he had been confronted with the vision of Hux staring at Kylo's chest, slowly undoing his buttons.  
"Ren, just- just hear me out." Hux continued to undo his buttons, with Kylo staring at him with complete alarm.  
"Stop, what the-"  
"I told you, just hear me out this one time." Whatever Hux was doing, Kylo noted, was giving him more confidence, and he wasn't entirely sure what to think about that. Eventually, Hux reached the last of his buttons, and slowly, delicately, began opening the shirt to show his chest.  
"Hux-" Kylo trailed off, looking in what could be considered abject horror at the sight before him.  
Hux's chest was glowing.  
"No, no, no, no, this can't be happening." Kylo's face had turned pale; he placed his hands on his head, turning away from Hux. He realised quickly, however, that turning around risked people whose opinions actually mattered to him noticing what was going on, and so he quickly turned back to Hux. "You knew about this?"  
"I only found out just now." Hux replied, jaw set and staring straight at Kylo, his eyes laced with alarm.  
"This will ruin me. This is going to ruin me, you know that?"  
"It's not like I wanted to make this happen either!" He protested. Kylo swore under his breath, turning to Mitaka and quietly asking him to get his shirt. Kylo's gym bag was slightly separate from the group he'd been with previously, so although Mitaka did get some weird looks, he didn't get bothered, which was probably for the best. Once Kylo had the shirt he pulled it over his head, still keeping his focus locked on Hux.  
"Not a word, ok? You say anything and I'll make your life a misery."  
"Likewise." Hux stared Kylo down with an intensity and seriousness that Kylo had never seen before, looking something like a general ordering his troops. Kylo sneered, and went to rejoin his group of friends. Hux fell back against the lockers and slid down. It was really just his luck for his archnemesis, his tormentor, to be his destined soulmate. Mitaka came and sat next to him.  
"Well, that was- something." He looked over to Hux, who responded by drawing up his knees and placing his forehead on his knees.  
"How am I supposed to cope with that?"  
"We'll talk about it later, but you gotta get changed because we're gonna be late otherwise." Hux swore, and sighed.  
This was going to take some figuring out.

•~•~•~•

Something had changed in Hux. News of his transformation had rippled through school, and it was through these rumours that Kylo first found out about it. His friend Phasma came bounding up to him one day about a week from _that_ incident, with a grin plastered across her face, which normally spelled trouble, or some really good gossip. At this point, Kylo welcomed either of these options to give him a break from the absolute tumoil in his brain. "Have you heard?" She offered conspiratorially. So it was going to be gossip.  
"Heard what?"  
"About Hux." She looked up at him with eager excitement as Kylo tried his best to school his features into complete neutrality. In reality, his stomach had dropped through the floor, and he felt a creeping sense of foreboding that couldn't be shifted.  
"No. What is it?" He tried his best not to snap at her.  
"He's- changed. Everyone's talking about it. Have you not seen him?"  
"No I haven't." He was trying to keep his answers as short as possible, because he was really on the edge of some kind of fully-fledged meltdown.  
"Speak of the devil." Phasma muttered under her breath, looking a short distance beyond Kylo. Kylo whipped around, looking at the source of the increased whispers and surprised glances from those in the hall. Kylo could now admit that Phasma wasn't wrong: something really had changed with Hux, and Kylo raised an eyebrow.  
Hux, instead of slightly shabby and hunched over, was now walking with his shoulders back, his back straight, and a kind of implicit sneer playing over his face. Kylo tensed his jaw, moving towards Hux before Phasma could stop him. He was determined to wipe that smug expression off Hux's face, his determination stemming from something he couldn't yet identify and wasn't yet ready to analyse. He grabbed Hux by the collar with one hand, the most physically aggressive he'd ever been to Hux, but Hux didn't look frightened and he didn't cower or do anything Kylo was used to him doing. Instead, he just looked bored.  
"What's with you?" He growled. Hux, despite being shorter, managed to look down his nose at Kylo.  
"Nothing." A wry smile snuck its way across his face, and Kylo was spurred on even more by this indeterminate feeling to get this look wiped off his face.  
"You've created quite a stir, Hux. I don't think this is the time for either of us to make a scene, so maybe you should stop." He leaned in further, his teeth semi-bared.  
"Careful Ren," Hux warned. "You can't hurt me." He was right, Kylo realised: they were soulmates, and this was an inevitable truth, and in hurting Hux he risked losing his chance at a permanent happiness.  
"You better be careful, too. Don't want anyone finding out your little secret, do you?"  
"If I go down, you go down with me." Kylo already knew this, and knew Hux was right: his threats couldn't do anything. He dropped his grip, pushing Hux away slightly. Hux stood his ground, waiting for Kylo to move out of his way.  
"We need to have a talk at the end of the day." Kylo muttered, almost inaudibly, and much more softly than he was intending. Hux had the nerve to actually laugh in Kylo's face.  
"I'll have a think about it." And with that, he brushed past Kylo and was on his way, leaving Kylo standing on his own in the hall, staring blankly and surrounded by an increased number of whispers. He stormed away, bashing a locker hard enough to make everyone in the vicinity fall quiet. He made his way to an empty classroom to cool off without anyone starting rumours. Sitting in the darkened room, he started to pick through his feelings. This new, more confident Hux was not entirely unwelcome, and, as much as he hated saying it, quite an attractive concept to Kylo. The revelation of Hux being Kylo's soulmate had thrown a lot up in the air for him, and he found himself discovering that some of the things he picked on Hux for before weren't as detestable as he had convinced himself they were, and it had left him ultimately in a state of confusion he found that he couldn't quite escape. Growing up, Kylo had never considered being romantically involved with a boy before, and yet when he found his mind wandering in class he found himself imagining tracing his fingers through Hux's hair or across his cheekbones or sliding his hands underneath his shirt. He hated this feeling, and he hated this new, confident Hux, who was totally in possession of his own space and his own body. He wanted to crack this new personality and find Hux's softness, directed at him-  
_Shit_. Kylo ran his hands through his hair, staring at the ceiling. He'd really gotten himself stuck here, hadn't he? The universe had cursed him with Hux as his soulmate, and he'd fallen for it. He'd fallen for _him_.

•~•~•~•

The end of the day finally came, and Kylo found himself waiting next to his locker, hoping that Hux would make an appearance. Had he really been reduced to this? Not so long ago he held all the control, and the revelation of his soulmate had messed with him to the extent that he had none. Hux was in charge, and he knew it. Kylo tensed his jaw, staring at his shoe and hoping for Hux, whose image was beginning to appear in his mind. Kylo let his mind wander over the line of his jaw, the dusting of freckles on the bridge of his nose, the little flecks of gold in his eyes: he realised in that instant that he had been watching and collecting tiny little details about his counterpart for longer than he knew, before he even knew their fate.  
Kylo was so lost in this train of thought that he failed to notice Hux approaching him until he was ten feet away. Kylo looked up, watching Hux walk towards him, totally calmly, completely unafraid (how long had he scarpered at even the sight of Kylo?), and Kylo much preferred this version of Hux, who braced himself up against the lockers, looking down his nose at Kylo.  
"You wanted to talk?" Kylo nodded. "What did you want to say, Ren?"  
"I-" He didn't know. Well, he did, but he didn't know how to phrase it without sounding crazy. Instead of finishing his sentence, he sighed and looked at his feet.  
"Ren, don't waste my time. I have places to be." Hux looked like he didn't want to be there, but not because he particularly looked like he was in a rush.  
"Uncomfortable, Hux?" He felt his old words to Hux creep up his throat.  
"Frankly, yes. It's barely been a week, Ren, and you've suddenly changed from picking on me to trying to avoid me, and now you want to talk? What about that would make me feel even remotely comfortable? It all changed so quickly, Ren, as soon as you discovered this." Hux laid a hand on Kylo's chest, above his heart, and Kylo felt his entire chest and face, his face overtaken by a hot blush and his chest glowing so brightly it could be seen through his shirt. Hux paused a moment, looking at his hand, and then bringing his gaze up to Kylo's reddened face. " _Oh._ " Hux had felt Kylo's heart beating faster than could be passed off as normal, and instantly he knew.  
"I'm sorry." Kylo turned his body away from Hux, trying to rid himself of the contact with his hand, ultimately disappointed with himself for suddenly becoming so weak.  
"Ren-" Hux began, and, like Kylo, had no idea how to finish. Kylo turned slowly, locking eyes with Hux, his thoughts telling him to regain the control he'd held over Hux for so long. He let out a low noise, grabbing Hux by the shoulders and pushing him up against the lockers, pinning him there like he had before, but making the distance between them much, much smaller. Hux stiffened slightly out of instinct.  
"Just- hear me out." He offered in a low voice. Hux let out a soft laugh in response to his own words being repeated at him. Kylo braced his forearms on the lockers either side of Hux's head. Hux was painfully aware of Kylo's body, feeling his warm breath tickle his lips, and one of his legs in between his own. The old fear was ebbing away fast, and his own confusion was quickly replaced with another, more urgent feeling. He could feel his own chest and face warming up, increasing with every millimetre that Kylo drew nearer. He couldn't help but smirk: he much preferred this dynamic. Lacing his arms over Kylo's shoulder, he closed the gap between their lips, beginning with short, breathy kisses before Kylo completely pressed Hux up against the locker, deepening their kiss and allowing their chests to touch. Even through closed eyes, the light was blinding: their chests had touched for the first time, and the light had reached its strongest. Kylo moaned into Hux's mouth, allowing Hux to slip his tongue in and explore Kylo's mouth. He didn't realise until that moment the things he'd always wanted to do to Kylo. He brought his hands up to tangle into Kylo's hair, eliciting another low moan. Kylo edged closer, the leg between Hux's legs pressing slightly more. Hux tipped his head back, giving Kylo access to his neck, causing him to gasp with pleasure and bite his lip. Kylo brought himself back up so he could look Hux in the eyes. Hux gave him a soft look, which Kylo returned. Hux reached up and tucked a stray strand of Kylo's hair behind his ear.  
"Was that what you wanted to say?" Hux asked. Kylo nodded, smiling to himself.  
"And to think a week ago I thought I was dead straight."  
"Seriously?"  
"Yeah."  
"And I thought it was a tough enough realisation for me to find out you were my soulmate."  
"You knew you were into guys before?"  
"Always. I didn't think I'd be into guys like you though."  
"I don't think you had much of a choice in this one." Kylo planted a soft, slow, gentle kiss on Hux's lips. Kylo's phone started ringing, and Kylo separated from Hux to pick up the call, both of them feeling the sudden lack of contact quite severely.  
"Phas? What's up?" Phasma rarely called Kylo, and when she did, it was normally to berate him for something that he did wrong.  
"Dude! I'm still waiting for you in the parking lot! We're going to see a film tonight, remember?"  
"I'm so sorry! I'm still in school, I'll be out in a second!"  
"What were you doing? Did you get detention?"  
"No, don't worry, I just had to go talk to someone about something. I'll tell you about it sometime."  
"Ok, thanks for the vagueness, but hurry up- we're gonna be late!"  
"Yeah, coming, one second." Kylo hung up, sighing.  
"Do you have to go?" Hux asked. Kylo looked over, admiring the mess he'd made of Hux's put-togetherness.  
"Yeah. We'll resume this some other time." He ran out towards the main entrance of the school, but not before darting in to kiss Hux, who watched him leave before turning and making his own way home.

•~•~•~•

Phasma came bounding up to Kylo sometime the next day with that look on her face again.  
"Rumour has it that you were really getting steamy with some girl yesterday and that she's your soulmate?"  
"I didn't kiss a girl yesterday."  
"Bullshit, Kylo, there's video footage." Kylo's heart was suddenly in his throat.  
"I didn't kiss a girl yesterday." He repeated, partially because he didn't trust himself to say anything else, partially because it wasn't untrue. Phasma shot him a look, and took out her phone, holding it out for him to see. There he was, in the hall yesterday, pressing his soulmate up against the lockers. It was strange for him to see it from an outside angle, to see himself. The video cut off at the moment when their chests produced the blinding light. Kylo, internally, breathed a small sigh of relief: it was impossible to tell who he was kissing. His arms blocked any view of Hux's face, the only part of him being really visible being the tip of his shoe and a sliver of a blue shirt, which was too indistinct to tell whose it was.  
"Tell me again that you weren't kissing someone yesterday."  
"I didn't kiss a girl yesterday." Kylo snapped, opening his locker to swap his books around.  
"Kylo, don't even-" She broke off suddenly, and Kylo looked around to see Phasma focused more intensely on her phone.  
"What?"  
"You didn't kiss a girl yesterday." She looked up at him with an expression that showed her struggling to process this new revelation. "You didn't kiss a girl yesterday."  
"No. And I'd rather not let that get out immediately. Maybe when I've figured out what I'm going to do."  
"How long has this been a thing?" She asked. "How long have you known who your soulmate was?"  
"I've known who my soulmate was for a week, but this-" he made a vague gesture to the phone, "has only been a thing since yesterday after school."  
"So that's what you were doing." She sucked on the inside of her cheek, watching him through narrowed eyes.  
"Hey, we weren't late to the movie, so what's the issue?"  
"We were only not late because I don't care about the rules of the road." Kylo laughed at this.  
"Can't fault that statement." Kylo turned back to his locker, continuing to change his books and hoping that the subject had changed.  
"So who was it?" Kylo sighed.  
"Doesn't matter."  
"You know everyone's gonna find out at some point, so you might as well tell me."  
"No, because I know you're going to tell everyone else, and I'm not the only person this affects."  
"Well, if that's how you feel, then I'm going to find out on my own." By this point, however, Kylo had stopped listening, having caught sight of a flash of ginger walking along the corridor. Hux looked over with the same panicked expression that Kylo knew his face was betraying. _We'll figure this out. We'll talk later._ Kylo mouthed. Hux blinked in recognition of this, and kept walking. Kylo looked back to Phasma, whose eyebrows were raised impossibly high.  
"Well, colour me surprised." She commented, not really knowing how to react. Kylo shrugged, picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder.  
"You see why it's a tricky situation now, right?"  
"Yeah, well, it also makes you talking nonstop about how much you hate this kid slightly more understandable. You never hated him, but you sure were obsessed with him." She laughed, giving him a friendly light punch on the shoulder before leaving for her class. He let out a petulant huff and set off in his own direction, ignoring the whispers and glances around him.

•~•~•~•

Hux and Kylo were sitting in Kylo's car outside Kylo's house. His mother would be in right now, and would make too much fuss over the pair of them for them to have time to actually deal with the problem at hand. So, they were sitting in the car, which at least was in a neighbourhood where nobody from the school lived.  
"We need to do something." Kylo's head fell back onto the headrest. Hux looked over at him.  
"What do you suggest?"  
"We swallow our pride and just ignore the consequences. We are soulmates, after all." The word still caused his heart to stir, and he smiled upwards, head still tilted back against the seat.  
"It might become unbearable, though. This isn't your standard 'two already compatible people find out they're soulmates' scenario. This is a 'super straight-looking jock and weedy nerd are suddenly soulmates and are totally in love with each oth-" Hux faltered, realising what he'd just said. Kylo turned to look him in the eye, watching a blush creep over Hux's cheeks.  
"You're in love with me."  
"Completely and utterly." Hux replied, his voice small and afraid. Kylo made a resolution.  
"I don't care about the consequences." He asserted. Hux opened his mouth to protest, but Kylo leaned across and caught his open mouth with his, drawing him into a kiss. Realising this wasn't the most comfortable position, he reached over and he helped Hux scramble over the car, barely breaking contact with his mouth, drawing Hux into his lap. Hux leaned his entire body into Kylo, feeling his warmth, and feeling perfectly, unabashedly happy. Kylo laced his arms around Hux's lower back, holding him in close. This kiss was intimate, comfortable, warm, unlike their wild and passionate kisses of the day before. Kylo noted this in his head, and smiled a little into the kiss. Hux was everything he needed, and he felt like he wanted the world to know how perfect it all was. He didn't care what the consequences were. He wanted to be happy, and he'd found his happiness.  
"I trust you. Let's do this then. Tomorrow." Hux had pulled away a little and was looking down at Kylo. He nodded.  
There was a knock on the window. The two of them looked in abject terror at the person outside the window: there was nowhere for them to go, and no excuses to cover the situation.  
"Mom!" Kylo tried to make himself sound angry, despite the fact that he just sounded scared. He rolled down the window timidly. Hux, still stuck on Kylo's lap, did his best to neaten himself up and make himself presentable. Leia, completely undeterred by what she saw, looked her son dead in the eye.  
"I saw your car, and I was wondering why you hadn't come in yet. Now I see you were- otherwise occupied. Anyway, dinner's nearly ready, so come in soon." She turned her gaze onto Hux, who looked frankly terrified. Kylo slid a hand onto the outer side of Hux's thigh to reassure him. "Who are you?" She demanded. Hux swallowed.  
"Armitage Hux, ma'am. I'm-"  
"The boyfriend, apparently." Her voice betrayed her confusion.  
"Actually," Hux looked at Kylo and back again at his mother. "I'm the soulmate." He looked back at her through knitted brows. The realisation passed over her features, but she was able to disguise her surprise remarkably quickly.  
"Nice to meet you, Armitage. I'm Leia, Ben's mother." She shook his hand. "Dinner's nearly ready, anyway, so come on in, we've always got room for another. Ben, your cousin Rey is swinging around in about an hour, so make sure your room is tidy." Before Kylo could protest, Leia was already heading back towards the house, joined by a large dog who galloped across the yard and was flopping around excitedly around her.  
"Ben?"  
"Ben Solo." Kylo laughed a little. "I'll explain later, but now we've gotta go face my mother." To Kylo's surprise, Hux started laughing, laying his forehead against the headrest behind Kylo. "What?"  
"Not exactly the best first impression I've ever made, but oh well." Kylo laughed as well.  
"Yeah, let's go." Hux drew his head back so he could look at Kylo, and leaned in for a quick kiss before he opened the car door, climbing out and neatening himself up properly.  
"You ok?" Hux asked. Kylo nodded vaguely.  
"As far as my parents were concerned until now, I was a straight guy who didn't settle down." Kylo shut the car door behind him, and walked up to the house, sneaking an arm around Hux's waist. It was so much more- domestic than anything he'd ever done before, and yet he loved it so much more than anything he'd ever done before. Hux leaned into Kylo, sighing contentedly. "This is going to be weird, isn't it?"  
"You know your parents better than I do." Hux laughed.  
"True. Well, prepare to be bombarded with questions, but other than that, welcome to the family." The pair stepped over the doorstep, for the first time introducing themselves together as soulmates.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow this ended up being longer than I expected, and I might rewrite it as a series of more detailed chapters, or I'll leave it like this... either way, hope you enjoyed!


End file.
